The Gas Leak
by rhapsodybree
Summary: It's the nasty little gas leak in Megan Wheeler's apartment block that leaves Zach Nichols with two unexpected houseguests. Megan Wheeler/Zach Nichols strong friendship. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

'C'mon, pick up the phone Jacqui,' muttered Megan Wheeler under her breath as she jiggled her whiny seven week old daughter in her arms. The ambo had given Margot a once over and declared that everything was okay, but she knew her daughter's cries well and something was wrong.

Getting the attention of the ambos again was a useless enterprise as they turned their attentions to others who were in greater need of assistance. The gas leak in her building had hit the residents on the lower floors worse, and even now, fireman were continuing to usher residents from the building out into the pale moonlight.

As her call went to her sister's voicemail for the third time, Megan snapped her phone shut and suddenly remembered. Jacqui was hosting a party tonight, entertaining the numerous dignitaries that her husband needed to schmooze up to in his role as a businessman. There was no chance she had her phone with her, let alone on.

Megan looked down at the tears running down Margot's face, swore under her breath and flipped open her phone once again.

Time to call in that favour.

* * *

Detective Zach Nichols flashed his badge and slid under the yellow tape easily. His intelligent eyes scanned the crowd before him, seeking his red-headed partner.

He found her standing off to the side, her small bundle held close to her as everyone else seemed to move in the gap between them at an increasingly faster pace, each intent on doing their job.

He was already slipping off his larger overcoat as he made his way over. Dodging the various personnel running from the building, he reached Wheeler and slipped his jacket around her shoulders.

The small woman startled at his actions and turned her weary face to hers. 'Zach!' she said in surprise. 'I was expecting Captain Ross.'

Zach declined from answering as he looked down at the screaming baby in Megan's arms. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he guided her away. 'Let's get you both to the hospital,' suggested Zach, though it really wasn't a suggestion as he led her to the car.

* * *

'But, I don't need to…'

With Margot safely off to be checked by a doctor, Megan was railing against the nurse's orders that she too needed to be checked. 'I've got to make sure that Margot's okay.'

Zach's grip was surprisingly warm as his voice was gentle when he stepped in front of her and placed a heavy hand on her upper arm. 'You go get yourself checked out and I'll go check on Margot. Okay?'

Megan sighed in defeat, but pushed the wheelchair before her away. 'I can walk perfectly fine thank you very much.' The nurse flashed Zach a thankful cum exasperated look as she followed her reluctant patient into a room.

The grin leaving his face, Zach quickly discovered that it was a surprisingly difficult task to find little Margot Jane Wheeler in the hospital. She'd not yet been entered into the system, and every person he spoke to seemed to refer him to another person, who then referred him to another person, and so on and so on, and he was now back asking the first person where he could find the baby.

It wasn't until after a full hour after he'd promised Megan that he stood in the hall, looking through the long rectangular glass that overlooked the nursery. Rows upon rows of cribs were lined up before him, but he easily picked out his charge – her shock of red hair making her easily identifiable.

He raised one long finger and placed it on the glass, looking in at the screaming baby. As his eyebrows furrowed, another man joined him a the window, a wide grin plastered on his face. 'One of these yours?' asked the new arrival jovially.

Zach tapped the glass, wordlessly pointing out the red-headed baby who now had a face as red as her hair.

'Looks like you've got a screamer,' chortled the happy man. 'My little gorgeous baby is the bald baby on the end. Born three weeks early and we're blessing God every single day.' The man sombrely made a sign of the cross on his chest before his happiness was back with a vengeance. 'We can finally take our baby home tomorrow!'

Zach nodded, his disinterest apparent, but it was lost on this man who held out his hand in introduction. 'Dick Poole – father of Morgan Poole,' was the proud declaration. Zach shook the hand grimly.

Turning back to the viewing window, he looked on in concern as Margot's cries failed to cease. Dick had since moved away from the window to the door allowing entrance into the nursery. Zach's eyes followed him as he stepped in and wheeled his son? daughter? (it was kind of hard to tell with the baldness and all, and the name didn't help distinguish gender) out.

His brow creased and he found his legs moved of their own volition, following the same path as his newfound 'friend'. A middle-aged woman eased the door shut as Dick pushed the crib away from them down the hall before turning her gaze on him.

'Well, which one is yours dearie?' asked the kindly woman. Kathleen, read her name badge.

'The squalling one,' responded Zach shortly. 'Black and white and red all over.'

'Oh our Little Miss No Name Yet is it?' said Kathleen in understanding. 'Poor little dear hasn't stopped crying since we got her quarter an hour ago. Doctor declared there nothing to be wrong with her, but the poor thing just keeps getting redder and ...' Zach wondered how he could make this woman stop talking, and was summarily startled when she put a question right to him. 'You want to go in?'

His first reaction was to run, and he was reluctant to move as Kathleen took his arm with a deceptively strong grip and pulled him toward the door. 'In you go dearie. Just pick up the little dear and give her a cuddle.'

With no choice, Zach stepped in before turning back sharply. 'Her name is Margot. Margot Jane Wheeler.'

'Margot,' said the nurse thoughtfully. 'Fitting…'

* * *

When Zach saw Megan next, she was propped up on her hospital bed and filling out paperwork. 'Margot's sleeping like a, well, baby now,' he said as means of starting a conversation.

'Mm, the nurse told me,' responded Megan. The nurse had also been eager to share that it had been the lanky detective now standing before her that had walked the halls, settled and fed her daughter before tucking her into sleep. She had a feeling that Zach didn't want her to know that, and so she wasn't going to bring it up.

She eased the paperwork to the side. 'Thanks for everything.'

The man making himself comfortable in the hard hospital chair just shrugged his shoulders. 'When you getting out?'

'Tomorrow,' grouched Megan. 'They're keeping us both here for overnight observation and the like. Poor bub will have to spend the night in the nursery.'

'What about then?' pushed Zach, folding one long leg over the other.

She made sure to answer quickly. 'The apartment's a no-go for now, so I'll give my sister a call and see if she can take us in.' She paused for the tiniest moment. 'Eames will probably have a room free if that falls through,' she finished with a bright smile. 'Who knows how long it will take our lovely government and landlord to get around to fixing the leak, and so it will be a little…' she rambled.

'I've got a spare room,' interjected Zach without warning.

'Oh no, I couldn't,' she responded, her decline swift to her lips.

'I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it,' he said blandly. 'You of all people should know that.'

'That's true,' she said slowly. 'But…'

'Plus,' continued Zach. 'I'll be away most hours, so the place is yours to trash, smash and otherwise destroy. Yours and the rugrat's,' he finished awkwardly.

When she eventually accepted his offer, he refused to meet her eyes, not wanting the gratitude. He only looked back at her when she turned to the paperwork once again.

* * *

Finally filling out the last few lines and checking the last box on the seemingly endless form, Megan looked over to Zach, surprised that he hadn't said anything in a while. Fixing her gaze on him, she saw why.

Mr Zach Nichols was sound asleep, his head lolling to the side. He seemed to be snoring without making any noise. Grinning at the sight and wishing she had a camera to take a photo for blackmail purposes later, Megan placed the completed form to the small table on her left and eased down onto the pillows. She was going to rest her head for just a moment.

She couldn't recall what happened next, but her eyes flickered open when she heard I'm-trying-to-be-quiet-but-I'm-only-making-it-worse noises.

Blearily noting the time to be just before 5am, and marvelling that she hadn't had an uninterrupted - albeit short - sleep in what felt like an eternity, she then focused her eyes on the figure at the end of her bed.

Zach was reaching for his jacket, his scarf haphazardly strung around his neck as he whispered into his mobile. He was fiddling with in his pockets, mobile now caught between his ear and shoulder, when Megan spoke. 'What's going on?'

He actually jumped and Megan inwardly cheered at getting a one-up on the usually unflappable detective.

'Got a call out,' he muttered, a yawn spoiling the effect as he began to scribble on a piece of paper. 'Was just about to leave you a note and -' he shuffled around in his pockets once again and emerged with the desired object '- keys so that you can get in. You know where to go?'

Megan snorted at the question. 'When have you ever let me into your place?' she threw at him. 'Or god forbid, shared something personal?'

He grinned. 'Very observant.' He made a final scribble and handed her the stub. 'Here you go smartarse. Let yourself in.'

The smile was still on her face after Zach left and the nurse came into the room, pushing in the crib that held her squalling baby.

Fixing her daughter to her breast, she gazed down as the cries subsided. 'Guess what bub?' she said quietly. 'You and I are going to have a new home for a while.' She shifted herself to get more comfortable, tracing a finger down Margot's cheek as she began to speak once again. 'I'm not sure he's had any experience with kids though,' she mused. 'But I'm sure you'll grow on him. He grew on me, and so now's the time to return the favour now hmm?'

* * *

Megan didn't see her old partner for the rest of the day.

She'd felt awkward letting herself into his apartment, but the awkwardness had given way to a strange sense of surrealness when she retreated from what must be the main bedroom, only to enter the room next door and discover a cot in the spare room.

If she'd been that kind of girl, this discovery would have reduced her to tears. 'But she wasn't that kind of girl,' she said in a determined manner as she went about setting herself up with the little that she'd been able to take from her own apartment.

She tried vainly to stay awake, but when the 10pm feeding came around, and still no Zach, she gave up, put Margot to bed and then fell asleep herself.

Up early the next morning to tend to her daughter, she presumed that Zach was pulling an all-nighter or sleeping in. Sticking to her usual morning routine, she headed for the kitchen and allowed Margot to nurse as she paced the tiles, taking advantage of a kitchen that was longer than her own.

She was contemplating where she might find the coffee when she got a rude shock and turned to find her housemate (?) standing in the kitchen doorway.

It would appear that Zach had been rubbing his hand over his face in an attempt to wake up, but the movement stopped midway for a long second before he rubbed his jaw and continued to stumble forward.

Thoroughly embarrassed to be caught in this position – and as a guest – she placed a hand on Margot's head as she apologised. 'Sorry, I didn't think you'd be up for a while,' she said awkwardly. 'Early morning aversion and all.'

Zach just twitched his head to the side as he shuffled to the left. 'Came in three hours ago. Can't sleep.'

Struggling to cover herself – her choice of night clothes really not helping out – Megan began to shuffle to the doorway. 'Maybe you should check out the cinema,' she suggested as she began to leave the room. 'Maybe they've got a screening of the golden oldies for the likes of yourself on to trigger those genius thoughts.'

'Coffee?' came the one-worded response as Zach ignored Megan. Rolling her eyes at his aversion, she turned slightly and nodded her head. 'Ta.'

The only response she received to this was a somewhat enthusiastic hand flap and a back scratch as Zach yawned and got about the coffee making business.

* * *

It was a great surprise to both how easily - and quickly - they fell into a routine for the three short weeks that Megan and Margot Wheeler were guests of Zach Nichols.

Caffeine was a necessity for both in order to function throughout the day, and it was Zach that plugged in the life giver and prepared two mugs every morning before he shuffled off to work. Megan had the bachelor pad to herself throughout the day and revelled in taking her baby girl out for a walk in a new neighbourhood each morning.

Keen to not be bludging off, and with Zach refusing to accept rent or board from her, Megan also took it upon herself to keep the apartment clean.

The first night that Zach had come home after her cleaning busy bee, he'd actually walked right back out of the apartment, checked the number of the door and re-entered the hall. 'My apartment hasn't looked this clean since I moved into it,' he drawled. 'And even then…'

'You think you're impressed now, just wait 'til you see the bathroom,' grinned Megan as she shifted Margot into a face-first position in her arms.

'Why, what did you do?' he asked in alarm. 'What did your Mummy do Margot?' he asked desperately to the oblivious baby.

She had to laugh outright at his terrified look as Margot ate her fist. 'Don't worry, all your male products are still in place.' She smiled beatifically at the dirty look he flashed her as he brushed by her. 'You've got a new toothbrush though,' she called after him.

'What?!'

* * *

Captain Danny Ross had noticed a change in his senior detective – the coordinated outfits had been a glaring giveaway – but the change didn't really hit him until he called a lunch meeting a couple of weeks later to discuss a case.

Ross watched as Nichols took a seat before him (his new partner nervously scurrying into her own chair nearby), placed a brown paper bag on his lap, withdrew a wrapped sandwich from within and began to fold back the edges with precise movements.

Nichols picked up a triangle and took a large bite as his other hand reached for the file on the desk before him and he began to speak. 'Janice Timms has no alibi for that night…'

Listening with half an ear as his detectives filled him on the the status of their investigation into the death of a high profile businessman's mistress, the Captain wondered how things might have turned out if he hadn't sent Zach to pick up Megan Wheeler that night.


End file.
